TONIGHT! It's the go-home show for the Royal Rumble! And hey, it's also the return show for Randy Orton! I'm sure he'll have something to say or do to Wade Barrett! Plus, more on the World Heavyweight Championship Triple Threat Steel Cage match! SmackDown is NOW!

The Champ May or May Not Be Here! Once again, the DVR has cut in late!

So we jump in the middle of the "Big Show running over AJ" video package again!

No opening credits! We are taped from Tucson, AZ! We go straight to the ring, where THE BIG SHOW joins us for some promo-related fun. But you know who's NOT having fun? The Big Show, who has his sad face on. Your hosts are the three waste buckets. They want to talk A LOT it seems, but Big Show has the mic and it's promo time!

Show: Um...I have a lot to say, I don't know how I want to say it, uh...not really good at...uh...I'll just go ahead and say it. I'm sorry. Now I've already said this to AJ in person, but I want to come out here publicly in front of all of you, I apologized to AJ and she forgave me immediately. And I'm out here asking all of you to do the same. Problem is, though, is I'm having a little bit of trouble forgiving myself. That collision with AJ wasn't exactly an isolated incident. I mean, even when I was young, I didn't even know my own stregnth. Growing up, no matter how hard I tried, I still somehow, someway would end up hurting other kids. I made it...it made it really hard, you know. When I came to WWE, I thought all that was behind me. I thought, you know, that being a freak and it not being my fault, it was all behind me. It wasn't my fault, but here in WWE, I found a home, I found a place where I belonged. I love what I do. Believe me, I've been here 13 years. I love my job! But after what happened with AJ...I don't think I have the heart to go on with my career, I really don't. Don't get me wrong, I'm...I'm very, very honored and proud to be in the triple threat match this Sunday at the Royal Rumble, but regardless, I think after Sunday, I'm really gonna have to...I'm gonna have to do some soul-searching...

Interruption comes from DANIEL BRYAN, not carrying the world title with him. He comes straight to the ring and grabs a mic for rebuttal.

Daniel: I heard. I heard you went and apologized and AJ accepted. But newsflash, genius! AJ was heavily medicated at the time. She doesn't even remember you visiting. But guess what? I remember. I remember everything. And I remember, as a kid, watching the WWE, thinking it was a place for ATHLETES, not genetic freaks! And before you even mention Andre the Giant, don't you dare! Don't you even dare! Because YOU are no Andre the Giant! He's got you all fooled. You're full of it. You have no plans on reassessing your career. That's just empty talk, like all those apologies. If you were truly serious, if you were really repentent about your sorry excuse for a life, you wouldn't be out here apologizing to AJ. You wouldn't be out here apologizing to me. You certainly wouldn't be out here apologizing to all these people. You would do the honorable thing and just retire...right...NOW! That's right! Do the honorable thing! For once in your life and LEAVE! Go climb back up whatever beanstalk you came from and stay there! You claim you can't help being the way the way you are? That you can't do anything about it? Well, guess what? I CAN!

Bryan slaps Show in the face and that seems to wake the big guy up.

Daniel: You're not a man! You're a monster!

Bryan slaps Show again, so Show grabs Bryan by the throat and drives him into the corner! Show gets in Bryan's face and tells him that what he did to AJ was an accident, but what happens at the Rumble won't be. Show shoves Bryan down. And it seems that we're missing one person from this picture, so let's cue up "THE WORLD'S STRONGEST MAN" MARK HENRY and his music. Henry joins Show and Bryan in the ring, so let's give him a mic, too!

Mark: Amidst this love fest going on out here, I felt compelled to come out here and remind you two that it's a TRIPLE THREAT Steel Cage match on Sunday. And I don't care about yo' hurt feelings! And I don't care about your Napoleon complex! And I damn sure don't care about some little 95-pound girl in a training bra! You know what I'm capable of! I ain't gotta sweet talk you! And you? Get over here and stand in front of my face and talk to me. GET OVER HERE! After weaseling your way out of MY Heavyweight Championship last week, I'mma tear your skin off on general principle.

Daniel: Listen, listen, listen, Mark. Mark, that was not my fault! Those lumberjacks, they piled in! They ruined our match! I was every bit as disappointed as you were!

TEDDY LONG and his music are out to interrupt Mark Henry advancing on Daniel Bryan. Long wants SmackDown to go into the PPV with a bang, noting that Wade Barrett is already set to face Randy Orton tonight. Based on Bryan facing Big Show and Bryan facing Mark Henry a week later, we'll now have Big Show facing Mark Henry tonight. Show and Henry get in each other's face, while Daniel Bryan seems pleased by these developments.

We now segue into a video package for the Randy Orton/Wade Barrett feud. Randy Orton returns tonight!

Ad break

CODY RHODES v. JUSTIN GABRIEL: NON-TITLE MATCHYes, we did see this match last week, but we actually get some REASONING behind this repetition through a Cody Rhodes Wrestling Challenge insert promo. Justin Gabriel apparently wanted a rematch, so Rhodes is giving it to him. That's some fine logic. Cole talks about Gabriel's WWE.com promo before completely burying the guy. Again, is this somehow designed to get Gabriel OVER? What is the POINT of that, other than to dissuade people from getting behind Gabriel at all?

Cody pounds on Gabriel to start, but Gabriel comes back with a spin kick. Cody takes control with an Alabama Slam and a Russian legsweep. We hit the armbar. Gabriel comes back with a monkey flip and kicks. Flying forearm sends Cody to the outside and Gabriel follows with a corkscrew tope! Those were sure some nice moves. Too bad NOBODY'S CALLING THE DAMN MATCH! Gabriel comes in with a springboard crossbody and Rhodes rolls through for 2. Rhodes clothesline is caught with a Gabriel STO. Gabriel tries for a springboard moonsault. It misses and he's able to land on his feet, but gets caught with the Beautiful Disaster! Cross-Rhodes finishes in a two-minute special.

WINNER: Cody Rhodes - This was even shorter than last week. These guys need some more time. Not much time is spent on the post-match, but Cole just HAS to get in one last jab at Gabriel, just to be an ass.

Backstage, Santino Marella is pitching match ideas to Teddy Long. Santino has crazy match ideas involving rocket ships and getting shipped off the planet! Long thinks this is crazy, but Santino wants a second opinion, so we pan over to see Yoshi Tatsu give his approval. Hey, we actually get Yoshi on this show! Nice! Santino refers to himself and Yoshi as future tag team champions, Santoshi! Yoshi takes umbrage to this, wanting the team to be called Yoshitino! Santino and Yoshi go back and forth until Drew McIntyre enters the picture. Long berates McIntyre some more, noting that Drew couldn't even beat Santino after he cheated in a Blindfold Match. Drew's Babe Ruth analogy falls flat and Teddy Long books Drew against Sheamus. That match is next.

Later tonight, The Big Show faces Mark Henry.

Ad break

Don't be a bully! It's a B.A. Star promo! There's a certain irony to CM Punk being featured in this after how he's been these last few weeks.

DREW McINTYRE v. "THE GREAT WHITE" SHEAMUSDrew gets half an entrance and I really don't like his chances here. Matthews give us some history, noting that McIntyre and Sheamus both debuted at the same time at the TLC PPV, with Sheamus becoming WWE Champion while McIntyre went on to do nothing, because he's a big honkin' loser. Ok, first of all, that's not true. McIntyre and Sheamus were both around LONG before that PPV. Second, I have to say this again, what is the POINT of this angle other than to bury McIntyre? We've had two matches and both of them have at least one guy getting verbally bashed ad nauseum. I just don't get it!

Anyway, both guys pound on each other to start, but Sheamus clotheslines him down. Corner charge eats boot, but Sheamus catches him and hits a rolling fireman's carry slam! Sheamus wants the ten chest strikes, but McIntyre hangs him on the top rope. McIntyre hits a seated dropkick and hits some corner clotheslines. Northern lights suplex gets 2! We hit the armbar before McIntyre hits a snap suplex for 2! Sheamus quickly makes the babyface comeback. McIntyre stops the ten chest strikes again, so Sheamus simply wraps things up with the Brogue Kick in another two-minute special.

WINNER: Sheamus - Ok, we get it! Drew McIntyre is a losing loser who loses all the time! ENOUGH ALREADY! GO SOMEWHERE WITH THIS!

Later tonight, Randy Orton RETURNS and faces Wade Barrett!

Ad break - Royal Rumble Punk/Ziggler promo. Yes, they even managed to fit the word "trending" into a PPV promo...and they do it twice, no less.

We are taped from Tuscon, AZ! Here's a Royal Rumble By The Numbers video package!

SANTINO MARELLA and YOSHI TATSU make their entrance for our next match. Santino power walks to the ring and nearly ditches Yoshi, so Yoshi tries to do some catch-up power walking! HA! Their match is next!

Matthews: Perhaps this is what Yoshi Tatsu needs here on Friday Night SmackDown, a partnership with Santino to take his career to the next level.Cole: I thought you were going to say "a match, for a change."

He really DOES have a knack for burying the talent, doesn't he? Primo gets a blow in and makes the blind tag. Epico hammers away and hits a double-underhook suplex for 2. Time to hit the chinlock briefly. Epico tries for a hangman neckbreaker, which Tatsu reverses into a backslide for 2. The hot tag is made at less than a minute in and Santino makes the babyface comeback. Armdrag and saluting gorilla press get 2 before Primo breaks up the cover. Primo gets rid of Yoshi and Santino gets rid of Primo with THE COBRA~!, but that distraction allows Epico to finish with the Backstabber in ANOTHER two-minute special!

WINNERS: Epico & Primo - I'd like for one match tonight to last longer than a couple of minutes.

Backstage, Mark Henry prepares for his match. Daniel Bryan enters the picture and tells Mark Henry that he RESPECTS him! Bryan says that Teddy Long wants the title on Big Show, otherwise it'd be Bryan/Henry at the PPV. Bryan tries to goad Henry into hurting Big Show tonight, for the good of everyone! Bryan pats Henry on the shoulder and Henry restrains himself.

Coming up next, Randy Orton RETURNS against Wade Barrett!

Ad break - Raw promo

Wade Barrett makes his entrance for our next match, but he has something to say first. It's promo time!

"Can we have some decorum, please? Now then, there's a lot of pageantry and emotion attached to tonight's SmackDown. Obviously, that's due to the monumental return of 'The Viper' Randy Orton. Well, unfortunately, I have it on very good authority that Mr. Orton has allowed his ego to get the best of him. You see, the doctors might say he's PHYSICALLY fine to return, but spiritually? Spiritually, he is a broken man. You don't go through what Randy Orton's been through and come out on the other side as the same competitor. In fact, let's have a look over at the Tron and see exactly why Randy Orton will NOT be showing up this evening!"

Let's take a look at the Falls Count Anywhere match between Orton and Barrett that led to Orton falling down the stairs.

"It looked like he'd fallen and he couldn't get up! And that is exactly why Randy Orton is now a shell of a man. You see, the only voices in Randy Orton's head now are telling him that Wade Barrett is an incredibly vicious competitor. And that, my friends, is exactly what's going to take me all the way through..."

Randy Orton's music hits and the Titantron shows RANDY ORTON walking through the backstage area towards the ring. And we see Orton atop the ramp, leading us to...

WADE BARRETT v. "THE APEX PREDATOR" RANDY ORTONBarrett tries to meet Orton halfway, but Orton has rights ready for him. Orton comes in with a clothesline and pounds on Barrett in the corner. The Referee Brigade run out and...ok, I'm confused. Are we NOT having a match? Barrett tries to bail, so Orton chases after him and beats on him at ringside. With the Referee Brigade having failed, we see TEDDY LONG atop the ramp waving over the dreaded Jobber Brigade. Here are "BIG PIMPIN'" CURT HAWKINS (w/o PIMP CANE), ACCLAIMED ANIMATOR TYLER REKS, and JOBBIN' TRENT BARRETA to try (and likely fail) to break up this fight. They all restrain Orton, which allows Barrett to come in with a cheap shot. Orton catches Barrett in the ring. THE USOS have joined the Jobber Brigade and try to hold Orton back. Barrett escapes amidst the brouhaha. Orton stares down Barrett and decides it's time for some Jobber Target Practice! RKO for Reks! RKO for Hawkins! Barreta gets near Orton's ear (presumably to whisper "I haven't jobbed on this show in months, so could we maybe...?"), so here's an RKO for Barreta! RKO's for Jimmy and Jey Uso! Hit Randy Orton's music!

Backstage, Daniel Bryan talks to Kaitlyn. Bryan asks for a favor on behalf of AJ and asks Kaitlyn to warn Big Show about Mark Henry's malicious intent to injure him tonight. Kaitlyn sees through this, but Bryan assures her that it's a favor for BOTH him and AJ. Kaitlyn agrees, but asks Bryan how he REALLY feels about AJ. "Kaitlyn...you know I like to keep myself very private." HA! God, Bryan's just AMAZING!

HUNICO (w/CAMACHO) v. TED DiBIASEAGAIN??? Seriously! This is three times in a month! ENOUGH ALREADY with this match! Sigh...so we take a look at what happened last week when DiBiase and Hunico had a Flag Match. DiBiase's sporting wrist tape to sell the house show injury from last weekend.

DiBiase starts off with an armdrag, as Cole demands DiBiase release his income tax returns, ala Mitt Romney. That makes absolutely no sense and that ample amount of stupidity combined with the repetitiveness of this feud has broken my brain. Hunico targets the wrist and quickly finishes this one with the Angle Slam in YET ANOTHER two-minute special!

WINNER: Hunico - I am rapidly losing patience with this show.

Post-match, the beatdown is on, as Hunico and Camacho double-team DiBiase. Camacho puts DiBiase's wrist on the steel steps and Hunico delivers the double stomp. So I assume that this feud MUST continue! Sigh...

Backstage, the saxophone music is playing, but Teddy Long tells Aksana that he needs to check on DiBiase. He tries to leave, but Natalya cuts him off and demands a match with Tamina. Aksana notes that she witnessed Natalya getting squashed like a grape, so now Natty wants a piece of Aksana. Teddy Long books Aksana and Natalya. You mean we're actually going to get to see Aksana in a capacity OTHER than nonsensical filler? Awesome! Natalya tells Aksana that she's going to make her cry. Then she farts! No, really! I'm dead serious! That happened! Natalya threatens Aksana, then she farts and exits! Long and Aksana's olfactory senses are offended and they run off. Then Santino comes in and he's nearly knocked out by the smell. WHAT THE FLYING FUCK AM I WATCHING? WHO WROTE THIS SHIT? And all of this with the "B.A. Star" logo sitting there in the background. Now THAT PART is funny!

Coming up next, Brodus Clay tries to save this show!

Ad break

So ALEX RILEY is in the ring and...wait...Alex Riley? Are you fucking kidding me? ALEX RILEY? Alex Riley who was getting some of the biggest pops of the night just six months ago? Alex Riley who was getting clean wins over The Miz and Dolph Ziggler? Alex Riley who, for reasons that defy anyone, has been kept off TV for months? Alex Riley has been reduced to JOBBER DUTY for Brodus? Jeezum crow, there's falling from grace and then there's sinking like a freakin' boulder! What the hell happened to this poor dope?

So...yeah, we take a look at what happened with Brodus and William Regal last week. That leads to...

ALEX RILEY v. BRODUS CLAYThe sad thing is that Brodus could just as easily be as much of an afterthought as Alex Riley in the same amount of time. All it takes is for the writers to get bored with you. Then things get even sadder, because Riley actually RULES IT here, as he dances along with Brodus and the Funkettes!

Riley starts the match with his own dance moves before shooting it off to Brodus. Brodus responds by jiggling his ass. Brodus asks for a test of strength, but it's a sucker move, as Brodus opts for the exploder suplex, instead. Avalanche, crossbody, goodbye.

WINNER: Brodus Clay - Brodus has completely won me over with this gimmick. Alex Riley deserves better than this.

John Cena sponsors Fruity Pebbles! No, that's not a joke, either! Eat Fruity Pebbles and you can meet John Cena!

And because I'm not sufficiently depressed or aggravated enough, let's go back to last Monday and watch Kane destroy Zack Ryder IN ITS ENTIRETY! You know, I understand that they want to sell Kane/Cena, but would it have killed them to give Ryder some OFFENSE? ANY offense whatsoever? It should be noted that in the span of two weeks, Ryder hasn't landed a single move on either of his opponents. I mean, at least some TOKEN offense would have sufficed! So yeah, we watch literally the WHOLE ENTIRE THING, including the entire sequence where Ryder's stretchered out.

As we see NATALYA in the ring (because lord knows she doesn't merit an entrance anymore, either), Matthews notes that Zack Ryder's "broken back" has been downgraded to a "herniated disk". Whether that means he's in the Rumble or on Raw, I guess we'll see.

NATALYA v. AKSANAAksana's saxophone music also doubles as her theme music, which...I don't have the energy right now to deconstruct how dumb that is.

So we start with Natalya looking towards the ramp yelling for Tamina and Aksana rolls her up...for 3. No...really...

WINNER: Aksana - "Flabbergasted" doesn't even begin to cover it.

Post-match, Natalya attacks Aksana from behind and clamps on the Sharpshooter. TAMINA runs in and hits the Samoan Drop. Superfly Splash ends this dreck.

Your hosts are the three dinguses. Booker calls Tamina "The Warrior Princess" and they'd better hope no one decides to sue. Matthews says that nickname sounds like something out of a video game and tries to segue to WWE 12. Cole looks disgusted by that segue, as are we all! We see the Triple Threat Steel Cage match play out in video game form. Dig that red unitard and smile that Mark Henry doesn't use anymore!

THE BIG SHOW makes his entrance, which means we are MERCIFULLY nearing the end of this show. The main event is next!

Ad break

THE BIG SHOW v. "THE WORLD'S STRONGEST MAN" MARK HENRYWe haven't had a single match go over two minutes tonight, so this should thankfully end that trend. Unfortunately, depending on these two to have a good match with each other is a crapshoot. So let's see where it goes. Before the match starts, DANIEL BRYAN comes down to ensure a screwy ending celebrate with his title some more. Bryan opts to hang out at ringside.

Show and Henry go at it until Henry bails. Henry stares down Bryan until Show comes after him. Back in the ring, we get a headbutt. Big corner chop! Another one! Henry suddenly collapses and rolls to the outside to take us to our final ad break of the night.

We come back with...Show being declared the winner? WHAT?

WINNER: The Big Show - So this match couldn't go over two minutes either? The word, apparently, is that Henry injured himself legit. So they kept booking an injured guy to wrestle and he HURT HIMSELF? Who could have possibly seen THAT coming?

Post-match, Bryan whacks Show in the back with a chair. Show no-sells it and tosses Bryan around. Matthews says that Henry made it back in the ring, but Show knocked him out again and Henry was counted out. What the...? This is a freakin' TAPED SHOW! They couldn't SHOW US THE END OF THE MATCH?

Bryan tries for the chair and Show takes it away. Bryan grabs the belt and tries to bail, but Show stalks him. Bryan takes Show down with a dropkick to the knee and goes to town on him with the chair. Bryan whacks Show repeatedly in the thigh with the chair. The fight moves into the ring, where Bryan clamps on the LeBell Lock. Cole asks if Big Show's going to tap out. Why would that matter? This isn't a match! Show powers out of the LeBell Lock and hits AAAAAAATHECHOKESLAM!!! Show wants the Mayweather Sucker Punch, but Bryan bails. Hit Big Show's music!

We take a look at replays. Why yes, the replays are longer than the main event, why do you ask? And so our show ends with Big Show celebrating atop the ramp.

FINAL THOUGHT

So here's the Mark Henry news that anyone could have seen coming a mile away. Everyone within shouting distance knew that if a 400-lb guy like Mark Henry kept working through a serious injury that it would only get worse and he'd probably hurt something else. Everyone knew it, except the E, who just kept booking him over and over. And sadly, it looks like the worst case scenario is happening.

This was a total waste of two hours. Not a single match went over two minutes, the backstage segments were moronic, guys are getting buried all over the place. And hey, there's a PPV in two days! Aside from video packages, did they even attempt to sell the Rumble match? As dumb and cliched as the lumberjack brawl last week was, as least you could have argued that it was done to sell the Rumble. You didn't have ANY of that tonight! Instead, they put on a bunch of nonsense and filler!

And it's not like they weren't expecting an audience. Randy Orton's return was going to draw in viewers and they (presumably) want to keep those viewers. And their plan to keep those viewers involved two-minute matches and farting? I just don't get it.

A-Ry is the first opponent who got it and enjoyed taking part of Brodus' entrance instead of sneering from the outside. The ideal ending would have been A-Ry painfully rising to his feet and dancing along with the post match celebration while still clutching his pained ribs.

Forget Drew McIntosh's fake firing angle that never results in a firing, isn't it about time Natalya started getting fitted for a Future Endeavored T-shirt? She's getting it worse and in more embarrassing fashion than John Morrison did. JoMo never farted out of a backstage segment.

Aksana's music should have kept playing while she was in the Sharpshooter.

Daniel Bryan CANNOT publicly declare his feelings for AJ. He can't be distracted by such things for as long as he's World Heavyweight Champion. Why? Because he must follow the teachings of Rocky Balboa's trainer Mickey:

Originally posted by It's FalseWe come back with...Show being declared the winner? WHAT?

WINNER: The Big Show - So this match couldn't go over two minutes either? The word, apparently, is that Henry injured himself legit. So they kept booking an injured guy to wrestle and he HURT HIMSELF? Who could have possibly seen THAT coming?

Post-match, Bryan whacks Show in the back with a chair. Show no-sells it and tosses Bryan around. Matthews says that Henry made it back in the ring, but Show knocked him out again and Henry was counted out. What the...? This is a freakin' TAPED SHOW! They couldn't SHOW US THE END OF THE MATCH?

There really wasn't anything to show. Josh was trying to make it sound cogent. Henry actually laid in ring for a while while the ref tossed up the X & clearly there was discussion with backstage of how to proceed. (There was some creative editing of all that.) Finally Henry rolled outside, much more discussion, presumably we were waiting for Mark to decide whether he could actually continue or not. Finally he hauled himself back into the ring, badly. Bit more discussion & Show just kicked him right out again. There was absolutely nothing interesting about it, other than watching the ref to count to 10. In that case, we all would have been asking why Bryan didn't runin on Show during the countout, rather than waiting for Show to be declared the winner. I suspect Bryan hadn't quite gotten the message of the revised plan. There just really wasn't enough useful material available to edit it together any more smoothly.

Originally posted by It's FalseSo here's the Mark Henry news that anyone could have seen coming a mile away. Everyone within shouting distance knew that if a 400-lb guy like Mark Henry kept working through a serious injury that it would only get worse and he'd probably hurt something else. Everyone knew it, except the E, who just kept booking him over and over. And sadly, it looks like the worst case scenario is happening.

The article cites groin injury, he's been working with an ankle heavily taped, but this apparently was a hyperextended knee.

Mark did manage to get up & limp out on his own during the Show/Bryan hijinks. He was limping really badly, although less so as he went. He was feeling well enough to stop off by the stage & hit it in frustration. I'd say it's totally up in the air whether Mark tries to work the PPV on Sunday or not.

Originally posted by It's FalseThis was a total waste of two hours. Not a single match went over two minutes, the backstage segments were moronic, guys are getting buried all over the place. And hey, there's a PPV in two days! Aside from video packages, did they even attempt to sell the Rumble match? As dumb and cliched as the lumberjack brawl last week was, as least you could have argued that it was done to sell the Rumble. You didn't have ANY of that tonight! Instead, they put on a bunch of nonsense and filler!

Oddly, this was a fun show live! It's astonishing how badly Cole et al are ruining the TV broadcast, & that nobody in power realises that. The fart joke was weird & stupid, but less clear who we were blaming. I absolutely didn't want to watch either Aksana or Brodus try to have a non-trivial match. The Henry/Show match wasn't supposed to be that short, so can't blame them for that. Among the other matches, yeah, most were short; however, mostly what we got was good. And there were 8 matches (counting the Barrett/Orton non-starter), which is a lot for 2-hour TV.

And we got a real main event for after-show: Barrett vs Orton in a street fight. Easily the best match of the night. They apparently just didn't want to give that away on TV yet. (For those asking in another thread -- yeah, Randy's ready to go. Looked to me like he's dropped some muscle mass during his time off, but was working just fine.)

The most head-slappingly moronic comment of the night had to come from Booker T regarding the Rumble, while they were discussing Cody Rhodes having lasted 30 minutes in the Rumble match in the past. "If you don't win the Rumble match then you have achieved absolutely nothing!" Yeah. So all those "ironmen", all those eliminations, doesn't matter folks. The only important thing about the Rumble is who's left standing at the end!

Originally posted by superfurryThe most head-slappingly moronic comment of the night had to come from Booker T regarding the Rumble, while they were discussing Cody Rhodes having lasted 30 minutes in the Rumble match in the past. "If you don't win the Rumble match then you have achieved absolutely nothing!" Yeah. So all those "ironmen", all those eliminations, doesn't matter folks. The only important thing about the Rumble is who's left standing at the end!

In a way he's right.You can be in the match for an hour and eliminate 28 guys but if you don't win it, there's nothing to show for it. No Rumble victory, No Wrestlemania main event.

Sure, we know that people get pushed and that the Rumble helps establish them. But you don't say that when you want to play up how important the win is. Just like the general public doesn't say "Oh, that losing Superbowl team. It's too bad they didn't win it, but I'll root for them next year based on their good playoff run."